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NOVA SCOTIA 

AND NEW ENGLAND 

DURING THE REVOLUTION 



BY 



EMmv P. WEAVER 



REPRINTED FROM THE 



^mmtm Ifototial Iniem 



Vol. X No. I 



OCTOBER, I9C4 




Book ^ilAk 






\ 



[Reprinted from Thk Amkkican I Iisiokicai, Rkvikw, Vol. X., No. i, Oct., I904. ] 



NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW ENGLAND DURING THE 

REVOLUTION 

At the beginning of the American Revolution it was not a fore- 
gone conclusion that Nova Scotia would continue loyal to the crown 
of England and that the other British colonies on the continent 
would all become independent. Yet writers dealing with the period 
frequently assume that Nova Scotia was from the first in a class 
altogether distinct from that of the revolting colonies, and therefore 
do not think her exceptional course of action worthy of remark. 
For instance, Green^ says that all the colonies " adopted the cause 
of Massachusetts ; and all their Legislatures, save that of Georgia, 
sent delegates to a Congress which assembled on the 4tli of Sep- 
tember at Philadelphia ". In this statement Nova Scotia is alto- 
gether ignored. But, had this province made a fourteenth state 
in the Union, there is little doubt that the difficulty of England's 
holding Canada, especially during the season when the St. Lawrence 
was frozen, would have been enormously increased ; and it is prob- 
able that England, like her rival France, would have been driven 
out of America. The attitude of Nova Scotia during the contest 
has therefore more than a merely local interest. 

At first sight it is difficult to understand why Nova Scotia did not 
follow the lead of New England. The character of the population 
did not promise any high degree of loyalty. It was composed largely 
of emigrants from New England, who had only recently, at the time 
of the Stamp Act agitation, left their old homes ; and there was 
another element of danger to the British connection in the presence 
of a number of Acadians who had escaped the intended doom of 
exile or had contrived to return to the province. In April, 1761, 
Belcher reported that there were 1,540 Acadians who had not yet 
submitted and who were fitting out armed vessels to prey on the 
trading ships. The hostility of the Acadians usually involved that 
of the Indians, who were still much under French influence. They 

^A Short History of the English People, New York, 1877, 741. 

2 Belcher, chief-justice of Nova Scotia, to Lords of Trade, April 14, 1 761, Manu- 
script Volume 37, no. 6, in Provincial Library, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Copies of this 
despatch and of most of those cited below are in the above-named library, which contains 
a valuable collection of documents relating to the early history of the province. Some 
of these are originals ; others are transcripts from papers in the British Museum, the 
Massachusetts Public Records, etc. 

(52) 



53 E. P. Weaver 

numbered in 1764 about six hundred fighting men, a formidable 
force in a country of small and scattered settlements.' 

It had been part of Lawrence's plan to settle some of the New 
England troops upon the fertile lands from wdiich they had been 
employed to drive the Acadians, but these troops had not chosen to 
remain,^ and it was not till the reduction of Louisburg in 1758 that 
the resettlement of the " vacated " French lands really began, for 
as long as the Acadians and Indians received encouragement from 
Cape Breton, new settlers entered the country with their lives in their 
hands. But within three months after the fall of the fortress Law- 
rence issued a proclamation'^ (with a description attached), inviting 
applications as well for the " lands vacated by the French as every 
other part of this valuable Province ". He described in detail the 
unique advantages of the lands at his disposal — extensive forests, 
rich farms, already cleared, and navigable rivers falling into the Bay 
of Fundy. With special enthusiasm he dwelt on the fact that the 
new-comers would find their way prepared by the exiled Acadians, 
and that they might at once go in and possess fruitful orchards, fields 
stocked with English grass, and " interval plough-lands ", upon which 
for a century the crops had never been known to fail. In another 
proclamation,'* he promised liberty of conscience to all Protestant 
dissenters, assured them that they would not be required to give any 
support to the Church of England, and explained that the govern- 
ment and system of justice in Nova Scotia resembled that of Massa- 
chusetts. 

The people of New England showed themselves very ready to go 
in and possess the lands of the unfortunate Acadians. Before 
the close of 1759, one hundred seven IMassachusetts men had re- 
ceived grants in the township of Annapolis ; nearly three hundred 
others of the same province had " signed " for lands in the townships 
of East Passage, Shoreham (on Mahone Bay), and Liverpool; and 
the township of Yarmouth had been allotted to a number of appli- 
cants, of whom nine or ten came from Philadelphia, and over a hun- 
dred from different parts of New England. This by no means ex- 

iWilmot, governor of Nova Scotia, to Lords of Trade, June 24, 1764, MS. Volume 
39, no. 9. See also Douglas Brymner, Report on Canadian Archives, iSg^, 255. 

2 Lords of Trade to Lieutenant-governor Lawrence, July 8, 1756 ; see Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 210. In a few cases, as above, when I have not had access to 
the document in question, I have made use of the abstracts, in many instances very full, 
in the above report. 

"Council Book, III, MS. Volume 211, 27, 28. This is a copy of the minutes of 
the meetings of the governor of Nova Scotia and his council. The original minutes are 
in the Provincial Library at Halifax, but the references here are always to the copy. 

'Ibid., 35- 

5 Papers connected witli Settlement of old Townships, Nova Scotia Provincial 
Library, MS. Volume 359. 



Girt, 



Ja '05 6 



Nova Scotia During the Revolution 54 

hausts the list of immigrants. In September of this year, Lawrence 
stated' that the total number of families to be settled before the close 
of 1762 was 2,550, or about 12,250 souls. But it appears that, in a 
number of cases, the grantees never actually took possession of their 
lands, for in 1766,^ counting the former inhabitants with the new- 
comers, there were in Nova Scotia only 2,375 families, or 9,789 per- 
sons, including what is now the province of New Brunswick. If we 
may assume the correctness of Chief-justice Belcher's estimate^ of 
3,000 as the number of English inhabitants in Nova Scotia in 1755, 
it will be seen that the increase was by no means inconsiderable ; and 
had Lawrence been permitted to manage matters as he thought best, 
it might have been much greater than it was.'* 

The glimpses we obtain of the New England settlers give the 
impression of an energetic, self-reliant people, jealous, like their 
compatriots, of any encroachment on their liberty. In June, 1760, 
the first settlers arrived at Liverpool, N. S., with live stock and 
thirteen fishing-schooners. Some of the party immediately betook 
themselves to the Banks to fish, while the rest set up three sawmills, 
and began to build houses for their families. Both Lawrence'^ and 
Belcher reported that the jettlements at Horton, Cornwallis, and Fal- 
mouth were prospering, but by the end of 1761 Belcher complained 
of the exorbitant price demanded by the New-Englanders for their 
labor.*' He said that, while the Irish were willing to work " in com- 
mon labour " for two shillings per day, the New-Englanders would 
not work for less than four. 

Of all the new settlers, the people of Liverpool" seem to have 
been most imbued with the spirit of their Boston brethren. In the 

1 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, September 20, 1759 (enclosure), Report oit Ca>ia- 
dian Archives, i8g4, 218. 

^Abstract of number of inhabitants, etc., December 31, 1766, MS. Volume 43, 
paper 15. 

3 Belcher's opinion on removal of Acadians, of July 28, 1755, Report on Canadian 
Archives, i8g4, 206. 

* He was informed by a letter from the Lords of Trade, dated August I, 1759, that 
his duty with respect to the lands was simply to receive and transmit proposals. .See 
Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 218; Council Book, III, MS. Volume 21 1, 95, 96, 
About this same time there were extensive schemes on foot to bring colonists from the 
other American colonies and from Ireland, but complaints were made that difficulties 
were thrown in the way of those bringing out settlers. See Memorial of Colonel Alex- 
ander McNutt, April 17, 1766, MS. Volume 31, no. 53. Several hundred from the north 
of Ireland were in fact brought over. See Lords of Trade to King, April 8, 1762, Report 
on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 232. 

5 Lawrence to Lords of Trade, June 16, 1760, MS. Volume 36, no. 48. See also 
Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 221. 

® Belcher to Lords of Trade, November 3, 1761, MS. Volume 37, no. 11 ; Report 
on Canadian Archives, i8g^, 228. 

''Council Book, III, MS. Volume 211, 250. 



55 E. P. Weaver 

minutes of the council of Nova Scotia, under elate of July 24, 1762, 
is a remarkable document drawn up by the inhabitants of this little 
sea-coast town, which could then count scarcely more than two years 
from the day of its first settlement, insisting in no measured terms 
on their right to local self-government : 

We, your memorialists, proprietors of the township of Liverpool, 
look upon ourselves to be freemen, and under the same constitution as 
the rest of His Majesty King George's other subjects, not only by His 
Majesty's Proclamation, but because we were born in a country of Liberty, 
in a land that belongs to the Crown of England, therefore we conceive 
we have right and authority invested in ourselves (or at least we pray we 
may) to nominate and appoint men among us to be our Committee and 
to do other offices that the Town may want. His present Excellency 
. . . and the Council of Halifax have thought proper to disrobe and 
deprive us of the above privilege, which we first enjoyed. This we 
imagine is encroaching on our Freedom and liberty anci depriving us of 
a privilege that belongs to no body of people but ourselves, and whether 
the alteration and choice of the Men you have chosen to be our Com- 
mittee is for the best or not we can't think so, and it has made great 
uneasiness among the people insomuch that some families have left the 
place and hindered others from coming, and we know some of the Com- 
mittee is not hearty for the settlement of this place, 

The petitioners complained that the said committee discouraged 
fishermen by saying that " they want farmers and that the township 
is full ", but " we say, ' Encourage both ' ". " Therefore we pray ", 
continued the memorial, " that we may have the privilege to chose our 
own Committee and other officers, as it will greatly pacify us and the 
rest of the people of the township, and what we must insist on as it 
belongs to us alone to rule ourselves as we think ourselves capable ". 

Liverpool was the only place in Nova Scotia to show " public 
marks of discontent " on the imposition of the stamp-duty/ Again, 
a little later,- this town was the scene of a riotous resistance to the 
law, as represented in the persons of the sheriff and deputy-sheriff 
of the county of Lunenburg. These officers had come to Liverpool 
in pursuit of a schooner that had been seized at New Dublin for some 
breach of the revenue laws and had escaped. Not seeing her in the 
harbor, they went into the town to make inquiries, but on the follow- 
ing night a mob of fifty men, armed with sticks and cutlasses, threat- 
ened the sheriff's life and forced him to sign a bond for 300I. " not 
to pursue the schooner any further ". 

Such manifestations of sympathy with persons engaged in illicit 
trade were a marked feature of the times in all the American colonies. 

1 Wilmot to Lords of Trade, November 19, 1765, MS. Volume 37, no. 46. See 
also Report on Canadian Arc/m'es, iSq4, 265. 
2 Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 45. 



N^ova Scotia During the Revolution 56 

With regard to restrictions on trade, Nova Scotia was of course in 
much the same position as New England. For instance, in the royal 
commission' to Governor Wilmot there is a clause forbidding him, 
on account of the complaints of London merchants, to assent to any 
bill by which the inhabitants of Nova Scotia would be put, in her own 
trade, on a more advantageous footing than those of England. 
Neither might he assent to bills laying duties on British shipping, 
products, or manufactures. The tender solicitude for British inter- 
ests, to the exclusion of all others, went so far that the governor 
was forbidden to assent to the laying of import or export duties on 
negroes, which might tend to dicourage British trade with Africa; 
nor might the province protect heiself against undesirable immigra- 
tion by laying any duty on the importation of felons from Great 
Britain. Wilmot was indeed commanded to suppress the " engross- 
ing of commodities, as tending to the prejudice of that freedom, 
which Trade and Commerce ought to have, and to use his best en- 
deavours in the improvement of the trade of those parts by settling 
such orders and regulations therein ... as may be most acceptable 
to the generality of the inhabitants ". But in the same clause the 
governor was forbidden, on pain of the king's highest displeasure, to 
" assent to any bill for setting up manufactures or carrying on 
trades ", which might prove " hurtful and prejudicial " to England. 
Legge's commission,- dated 1773, is in many clauses identical with 
that of Wilmot. The clause concerning the slave-trade, and another 
requiring the governor to do his utmost to facilitate the conversion 
to Christianity of Indians and negroes, is the same. 

In Nova Scotia there was, however, comparatively little reason 
for popular discontent with the navigation laws. There was practi- 
cally no manufacturing in the province.^ Two distillers of rum, a 
sugar baker, and two hatters constituted the list of manufacturers*. 
A little linen was sold by the Irish settlers, but there was good ground 
for hoping that such an objectionable practice would disappear when 
the people were more fully employed in the agricultural pursuit? 
which became them. Lord William Campbell went so far as to ask 
permission to open and use the coal-mines of Cape Breton, and even 
ventured to issue licenses for the digging of coals. But though he 
said that the colliery could never interfere with England, his action 

'Royal instructions, March i6, 1764, MS. Volume 349. 

2 MS. Volume 349. 

•'Michael Francklin to Shelburne, November 21, 1766, MS. Volume 42, no. 6. 

* See also Francklin to Hillsborough, July II, 1768, Report ott Canadian ArchiveSy 
i8g4, 287. 

5 Campbell to Shelburne, February 27, 1767, MS. Volume 43, no. i. See also AV- 
/(';-/ on Canadian Archives, iSg4, 276. 



57 E. P. Weaver 

was condemned as irregular and the renewal of the licenses was for- 
bidden.^ Beyond the simple articles with which in a certain stage 
of social development every family supplies itself, there was little 
demand for manufactured goods. This being the case, Nova Scotia 
offered few attractions to any one whose bent was mechanical or com- 
mercial. Farmers might hope to reap abundant crops from the 
" vacated French lands ". Fishermen might be drawn to the pro- 
vince by the number of " ports of safety ",^ and " the inexhaustible 
mines of fish ", at the entrance to its harbors ; but, as we have seen, 
for the would-be manufacturer there was nothing but discourage- 
ment, and as late as 1774^ Governor Legge was able to report, " there 
is no other kind of business carried on in this colony than fishing and 
farming ". 

When the stamp-duties were under discussion, there was not a 
town in the province deserving of the name. In 1762* even Halifax 
had a population of only 2,500. Country people are proverbially 
slower to move and more difficult to rouse than the dwellers in towns, 
and the disafifected of Nova Scotia seem to have had no leader of 
any great power or influence. In Cumberland county and on the 
St. John river there were several men who appear to have had con- 
siderable local influence, which was exerted to the utmost on the 
side of the revolted colonies, but at Halifax, though from time to 
time persons were arrested on suspicion of holding correspondence 
with the rebels or for saying that they " thought the Americans were 
much in the right of it " ^ no one was charged with any serious 
attempt to organize resistance to government. 

The interests of Halifax itself were indeed all on the side of the 
established order of things. Then as now it was the chief seaport, 
the seat of government for the province, and a British naval and 
military station, and in those days its prosperity, its importance, its 
very existence, depended on these conditions. Such specie as cir- 
culated was introduced into the country by the army and navy " 

On the other hand, Halifax depended' upon New England for its 

'Hillsborough to Francklin, February 26, 1768, MS. Volume 31, no. 69; Report 
on Canadian Archives, iSg4, 283. 

2 Campbell to Shelburne, February 27, 1767, MS. Volume 43, no. I ; Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 276. 

3 Legge to Dartmouth, July 6, 1774, MS. Volume 44, no. 37 ; Report on Canudiatt 
Archives, i8g4, 319. 

* Account of settlements enclosed with a letter of Belcher to Lords of Trade, January 
II, 1762, MS. Volume 37, no. 1^)4 \ Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 230. 

5 Papers relating to Crown Prosecutions, MS. Volume 342, paper 77. 

6 Campbell to Shelburne, September 7, 1767, MS. Volume 42, 20. 

' Wilmot to Lords of Trade, June 24, 1764, MS. Volume 39, no. 9; Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 255- 



Nova Scotia Diwing the Rcvohition 58 

supplies of all fresh provisions except fish, and so, in the earlier 
years of the Revolution, was in constant communication with Boston, 
the chief center of disafifection. In Governor Lawrence's time even 
hay was brought from New England,^ and in 1762 there was not in 
the town or its neighborhood one family that gained a living by 
husbandry. The only improved land consisted of a few garden lots 
and grass fields,- and the lack of roads prevented the country people 
from bringing in their produce. Campbell complained that it was 
frequently bought by New-Englanders, who sold it again to the 
people of Halifax.^ From the first therefore the citizens were fully 
informed of all that went on in the colonies to the south. 

To Nova Scotia, as to the other colonies, came the notice of the 
intended imposition of stamp-duties " towards defraying the neces- 
sary expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the British 
colonies and plantations in America " } The familiar story of the 
way in which this proposal was received does not need retelling. 
Nova Scotia alone, of all the colonies on the seaboard, submitted 
without " opposition or objection " to the laying on of the stamp- 
duties. In her settlements there were no riots, no non-importation 
agreements, and apparently, except from Liverpool,'^ no murmurs. 
The British ministers, however, saw no reason for greater confidence 
in the loyalty of Nova Scotia than in that of the more southern 
colonies ; and, on hearing of the disturbances in Boston and other 
places, they instructed'^ Wilmot " if this evil should spread to the 
government of Nova Scotia ", to use leniency and persuasion at first, 
but in the case of " acts of outrage and violence ", to apply for assist- 
ance to the naval and military commanders. 

Wilmot reported, however, that " the sentiments of a decent and 
dutiful acquiescence " prevailed " very powerfully " in Nova Scotia, '^ 
and in due time there came by express command of the king a letter^ 
signifying " his highest approbation of the dutiful, loyal and discreet 
conduct, observed " in Nova Scotia " during the late unjustifiable 
transactions in other parts of America ". 

1 Account of settlements with letter of Belcher, January II, 1762, MS. Volume 37, 
no. 13 J^. See Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 230. 

^Ibid. 

3 Campbell to Shelburne, May 2 1, 1767, MS. Volume 42, 15 ; Report on Canaiiiati 
Archives, i8g4, 277. 

^Lord Halifax to Wilmot, August il, 1764, MS. Volume 31, no. 38. 

5 Wilmot to Lords of Trade, November 19, 1765, MS. Volume 37, no. 46. See 
Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 265. 

''Conway to Wilmot, October 24, 1765, MS. Volume 31, no. 50. 

" Wilmot to Conway, February 17, 1766, MS. Volumn 42, 5. See same to same, 
February 9, in Report on Canadian Archives, iSg4, 266. 

^Richmond to Governor of Nova Scotia, June 12, 1766, MS. Volume 31, no. 57. 



59 E. P. Weaver 

The Stamp Act was soon repealed, but the mischief it had done 
did not quickly pass away. It had provoked both the friends and 
the foes of America to investigate the status of the colonies in relation 
to the mother-country. Lord Mansfield on the one side, James Otis 
on the other, agreed in insisting that the distinction between port- 
duties and internal taxes was without foundation. This idea spread, 
and trade restrictions soon began to be regarded as worse than 
arbitrary taxation — " the more slavish thing of the two ". 

But the ministers were by no means prepared to give up the con- 
test. At the moment of repealing the Stamp Act they took care to 
assert their rights over the colonies by " an Act for Securing the 
just Dependency of the Colonies on the Mother Country " ; and the 
very announcement of the repeal of the measure that had proved so 
obnoxious was 'couched in language of irritating condescension.^ 
One blunder followed another. Relief to the trade interests of 
America was promised, but little was given. The year 1767 saw 
another attempt of the British ministers to raise in America a revenue 
for military purposes by the imposition of taxes on tea and certain 
other articles. In many of the colonies this was met by a revival of 
the non-importation associations, and in February, 1768, the legis- 
lature of Massachusetts passed resolutions protesting against the new 
taxes, and adopted a circular letter to send to the other assemblies 
of North America. 

This letter is interesting as an expression of the political creed 
of Massachusetts at that time, but its contents are too well-known to 
need repetition. We are concerned with it chiefly as an attempt to 
bring about concerted action on the part of the colonies, a matter 
which former experience had shown to be of extraordinary difficulty. 
The representatives of Massachusetts evidently dreaded giving offense 
to the assemblies of the sister colonies, and eagerly disclaimed any 
ambition of dictating to them or taking the lead. But they assumed 
throughout that these other assemblies were at one with them on the 
main points in dispute. They did not doubt apparently that even 
Nova Scotia would join in their protest. On the other hand, the 

'Conway to Wilmot, March 31, 1766, MS. Volume 31, no. 52 : " You will think 
it scarce possible, I imagine, that the paternal care of his Majesty for his colonies or the 
lenity and indulgence of the parliament should go further than I have already mentioned 
— yet so full of true magnanimity are the sentiments of both, and so free from the 
smallest colour of passion or prejudice that they seem disposed not only to forgive but to 
forget those most unjustifiable marks of an undutiful diposition, too frequent in the late 
transactions of the colonies. ... A revision of the late American trade laws is going to 
be the immediate object of Parliament nor will the late transactions there, however pro- 
voking, prevent I dare say, the full operation of that kind indulgent disposition prevailing 
both in his Majesty and his Parliament to give to the trade interests of America, every 
relief which the true state of their circumstances demands or admits." 



Nova Scotia During the Revolution 60 

rulers of that province, from Hillsborough/ secretary of state, to 
Francklin,- the lieutenant-governor, expressed much confidence in 
the loyalty of Nova Scotia. v\t the same time they declared that the 
proceedings of Massachusetts were " of a most dangerous and fac- 
tious tendency, calculated to inflame the minds " of the king's " good 
subjects in the colonies, to promote an unwarrantable combination, 
and to excite and encourage an open opposition to and denial of the 
authority of Parliament, and to subvert the true principles of the 
constitution "? 

Their faith in the " most noble and submissive obedience "■* of 
Nova Scotia did not altogether allay their anxieties concerning the 
possible effect of the Massachusetts circular letter, even on that ex- 
emplary province ; and Francklin was directed to prorogue or dis- 
solve the assembly, if it betrayed any inclination to giving counten- 
ance to " this seditious paper ". When the assembly of Nova Scotia 
met in the following June, however, Francklin'^ was able to report 
that the Massachusetts letter had not even been read, and that there 
would have been no difficulty in obtaining a strong vote of dis- 
approbation, had it been thought necessary. " The people of this 
province ", he repeats, " have the highest reverence and respect for 
all acts of the British legislature." 

After the appearance of the circular letter, two regiments and 
four ships of war were ordered from Halifax to Boston. Campbell, 
who had just returned from a visit to England, wrote ^ to Hills- 
borough, urging that the troops might be sent back to Nova Scotia 
as quickly as possible, on account of the poverty of the people, 
" whose chief dependence was the circulating cash spent by the 
troops ", and because of danger from Indians. The removal of the 
fifty-ninth regiment from Louisburg, he declares, will cause " a total 

^ Hillsborough to Governor of Nova Scotia, April 21, 176S, MS. Volume 31, no. 71 : 
" The repeated proofs which have been given by the assembly of Nova Scotia, of thefr 
reverence and respect for the laws, and of their faithful attachment to the constitution 
leave little room in His Majesty's breast to doubt of their showing a proper resentment 
of this unjustifiable attempt to revive those distractions which have operated so fatally to 
the prejudice of this kingdom and the colonies." 

■* Francklin to Shelburne, March 29, 1768, MS. Volume 43, no. 25. Report on 
Canadian Archives, 1884, 284. "No temptation, however great", he asserted, "will 
lead the inhabitants of this province to show the least inclination to oppose Acts of the 
British Parliament." 

3 Hillsborough to Governor of Nova Scotia, April 21, 1768, MS. Volume 31, no. 71. 

* Campbell to Shelburne, February 27, 1767, MS. Volume 43, no. i; Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 276. 

5 Francklin to Hillborough, July 10, 176S, MS. Volume 43, no. 34; Report on 
Caitadian Archives, i8g4, 287. 

s Campbell to Hillsborough, September 12, 1768, MS. Volume 43, no. 49; Report 
on Catiadian Archives, i8g4, 2go. 



6 1 E. P. Weaver 

desertion " of the inhabitants ; and the coal-mines, " peculiarly recom- 
mended from home not to be touched, may uninterruptedly be worked 
by any people who think proper to go there ". Since the peace Louis- 
burg had been " the receptacle of adventurers in the Fishery " ; so 
long as the troops were there the civil power could be enforced, but 
now there was reason to fear " total anarchy ". The defense of 
Halifax, where a royal dockyard had lately been established, added 
to his anxieties. In case of war it would certainly be one of " the 
first objects of destruction",' for it might ^ "now be looked on as 
the northern key of His Majesty's American dominions ". 

Considering that he regarded the situation in Nova Scotia as so 
perilous, it is somewhat remarkable that Campbell permitted the pub- 
lication of the inflammatory matter that appeared in the earlier num- 
bers of The N ova Scotia Chronicle and Weekly Advertiser. Its first 
number appeared in January, 1769, and it kept its readers supplied 
with the " freshest advices " concerning the progress of events in 
the colonies to the south. Articles favorable to the king and his 
ministers occasionally found a place in its columns, but the general 
trend of the paper was, at this time, rather in favor of the champions 
of colonial rights. The question of war and of the separation of the 
colonies from Great Britain were freely discussed six years before 
the first shot was fired at Lexington, and the people were informed 
that great numbers of Englishmen looked " on America as in re- 
bellion "^ 

Nova Scotia still refrained from joining in the loud protests of 
the New England colonies against taxation by the British Parliament, 
but even in that province were faint stirrings of the desire for larger 
liberty, and some of the townships ventured to call meetings^ for 
debating questions relating to the laws and government. This 
alarmed the governor, and the attorney-general was instructed to 
threaten the offenders with prosecution. When the general assem- 

' Campbell to Hillsborough, October 25, 1768, MS. Volume 43, no. 56; Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 292. 

2 Same to same, January 13, 1769, MS. Volume 43, no. 67 ; Rtpoit on Canadian 
AT' hives, i8g4, 294. 

^ rhe issue for July Ii-i8 contains a long protest from the Genlleman'' s Magazine, 
addressed "To the Writers against America", prophesying that if war should occur, 
"the consequence must be alike fatal to Britain, whether England or America is vic- 
torious". And the quarrel is "for what?" " F"or less than a shadow." In the issue 
for August 22-29, 1769, appeared an " Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman of distinc- 
tion in London to his Priend in Boston", approving of the proceedings of that town : 
" I have learnt with pleasure from the papers that the Bostonians are firm and steady, 
not to be intimidated by the presence of a military power, and not afraid of enumerating 
their grievances." 

« Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 136. 



Nova Scotia Durino^ tJic Revolution 62 



v> 



bly met in June, however, Campbell was able to report^ that he " did 
not discover in them any of that licentious principle with which the 
neighboring colonies are so highly infected ''. 

In October, 1773, Lieutenant-colonel Legge became governor of 
Nova Scotia. He was ^.t Halifax for about two years and a half, and 
he made himself so unpopular that his councilors complained of him 
to the authorities at home, the principal inhabitants of Nova Scotia 
petitioned for his recall, and Francklin described him as utterly un- 
suitable for the position of governor from "his capacity, temper, and 
disposition ". Legge represented the inhabitants of Nova Scotia, in- 
cluding even the government officials, as disloyal. Francklin" as- 
serted that the accusations wee untrue, but that Legge's conduct had 
been " too oppressive, vindictive and ungracious " ; and that he had 
" lost the confidence and afifection of the King's best subjects ". In 
fact the number of the disaffected had " been greatly augmented by 
his arbitrary and impolitic conduct ". Legge's opinion that there was 
a considerable amount of disaffection in the province receives some 
corroboration from other sources. The provost marshal, Fenton,^ 
complained that many of the members of the assembly were " emi- 
grants from New England, who have brought the same principles 
as exist there, and are determined ", being in the majority, " to give 
the Governor and all the ofificers under him all the uneasiness in 
their power ". 

To the resolutions of the Congress at Philadelphia, declaring for 
non-intercourse with colonies that did not accept its measures. Nova 
Scotia paid no attention.'' But as a matter of fact the trade of 
Halifax was by this time seriously aft'ected, and communication even 
with England was rendered difficult. In the winter of 1 774-1 775, 
when the harbor of Boston was closed by the Port Bill, only one 
small vessel which was accustomed to make two voyages in the year 
came from Great Britain to trade at Halifax. ° Legge sapiently sug- 
gested" that the way to help the loyal colonies was to place fresh 
restrictions on commerce, and thus force the industrious New Eng- 

1 Campbell to Hillsborough, June 13, 1770, JMS. Volume 43, no. 100. 

2 Francklin to Dartmouth, January 2, 1776, MS. Volume 45, no. 3; Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g^, 344. See also Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 316, and 
Francklin to John Pownall, secretary of the Board of Trade and Plantations, May 4, 
1776, MS. Volume 45 ; Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 349. 

3 See Extract from Fenton's letter of November 18, 1774, Report on Canadian 
Archives, j8g4, 326. 

* Legge to Dartmouth, March 6, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 59. See Report on 
Canadian Archives, iSg4, 328. 

5 Same to same, July 6, 1774, MS. Volume 44, no. 3S ; Report on Canadian Archives, 
1894, 319- 

s Same to same, March 6, ITJ^^ "Sl^f. \'olume 44, no. 59. 



63 E. p. Weaver 

land fisherman to abandon smuggling and come to the coast of Nova 
Scotia to seek his living from the sea. Of the bill for restricting 
the fishermen of New England he had great hopes.' 

At the beginning of the war there appears to have been some 
danger of Nova Scotia's being lost to England. The Americans 
made more than one attempt at invasion, though these were so feeble 
that they have no place in the shorter and more general accounts of 
the struggle.- Open invasion, however, was not their most dan- 
gerous mode of attack. They labored to stir up the Indians and per- 
suade the settlers from New England to revolt, and they let loose a 
swarm of privateers to harry the coasts and destroy the fishing-boats 
and trading-vessels of the province. To make matters worse, rein- 
forcements were sent to Gage, and Halifax was left almost defense- 
less.'^ To supplement his meager force, Legge set himself to raise 
a thousand men in Nova Scotia. With this number under his com- 
mand, he said,' he could answer for the preservation of the province, 
though " the colonies to a man " were " prepossessed with great 
prejudice " against it. But he could place no reliance on the en- 
thusiastic loyalty of the people. The Nova Scotians were not so 
eager as he expected to enlist in the " Royal Fencible Americans " 
as the regiment was to be called, and Legge soon decided that the 
militia were not to be depended on in the event of an attack from the 
eastern part of New England, as many of them came from there. 
There were moreover other evidences of disaffection. A quantity of 
hay purchased for the horses in Boston was burned, and a fire was 
discovered in the navy-yard. The two men, however, who were 
thought to be guilty of the act were declared by a resolution of the 
assembly to be " dutiful and loyal subjects of King George ".•'' 

Suspected disloyalty and the lack of troops were not the only 
alarming circumstances of which Legge had to take account in esti- 
mating his chances of defending Halifax in case of attack. The 
fortifications were in a dilapidated state ; the batteries were dis- 
mantled, the gun-carriages decayed, the guns on the ground. In fact 

1 Legge to Dartmouth, April 24, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 61 ; Rf port on Canadian 
Archives, i8g4, 329. 

2 See Bourinot Story of Canac/a (London, 1S98 ) ; Edward Eggleston, A History 
of the United States and Us People (New York, 18SS) ; (]oldwin Smith, The United 
States (New York, 1893). 

^ Legge to Dartmouth, July 31, 1775, ^^'^- Volume 44, no. 71. See Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 334, 335. Lengthy extracts from this letter and many others 
are printed in Beamish Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia (Halifax, 1866). See II, 
550, 551- 

'See advertisement in Nova Scotia Gazette and IVeeh/y Chronich-, June 20, 1775. 
See also Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, II, 539. 

5 //;/,/. 



Nova Scotia During- tJic Revolution 64 

there were no defenses round the town, and it lay " open to the 
country on every side ".' Provisions were scarce, partly through the 
effort to supply the royal troops at Boston, and partly through " the 
defection of the southern colonies ",' upon which Halifax had been 
accustomed to depend for supplies. It was also difficult to obtain 
fuel, owing in a measure at least to the fact that persons bringing 
fuel to market were frequently pressed for the navy. The same 
cause interfered with the " provision of fish ". In addition to his 
other duties he was now called on to care for the New England 
refugees, provide them with land, and furnish food to those in need.^ 
Gage believed that some of these refugees from New England were 
tainted with disloyalty. 

To meet this danger, all persons, "not settled inhabitants ", who 
came into town were required to give notice to the magistrate on pain 
of being treated as spies, and all innkeepers were to give notice of the 
arrival of strangers, " on pain of the like penalty ". It was also 
decided* that persons coming from the rebellious colonies, besides 
taking the ordinary oath of allegiance, must declare their submission 
to the king and the parliament, and their detestation of the proceed- 
ings of the rebels. The magistrates had by a proclamation been 
required " to apprehend all disloyal persons stirring up or making 
disturbances ", and there seems to have been occasionally some harsh- 
ness in the performance of this duty. For instance,^ in June, 1775, 
the magistrates of Annapolis county " apprehended Mr. Howard, the 
dissenting teacher ", though " he had not been guilty of any mis- 
demeanour since his arrival in this Province, but had behaved himself 
discreetly, and as became a good subject ". He was nevertheless 
brought to " town in the custody of the Provost Marshal " and was 
informed that " information had been given against him, from New 
England that he had at several times held forth seditious discourses 
tending to alienate the minds of the King's subjects ". The gov- 
ernor had therefore thought it necessary that he should be warned 
against such behavior, " as he would avoid a commitment to prison 
and a prosecution at law ", but on promising " a dutiful, loyal be- 
haviour ", he was allowed to depart. 

During the latter part of this year, the rumors of an intended 

iLegge to Dartmouth, August 19, 1775, M.S. Volume 44, no. 76; Report on Cana- 
dian Archives, i8g4, 336. 

^See Council Book, IV, M.S. Volume 212, 268. 

3 Dartmouth to Legge, July I, 1775, MS. Volume 32, no. 31. See Report on Cana- 
dian Archives, i8g4, 332. 

* Legge to Dartmouth, December 22, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 86. .See Report 
on Cattacian Archives, i8g4, 342. 

s Council Book IV, MS. Volume 212, 254. 



65 E. p. Weaver 

invasion of Nova Scotia kept the governor and his councilors in a 
condition of constant excitement and alarm. But in spite of their 
anxiety they found time for frequent quarrels among themselves and 
with the assembly. The governor wished to make certain changes 
in the constitution of that body.^ The assembly hotly resented his 
proposals, telling him with characteristic freedom of language that 
" dictatorial powers may be necessary to quell insurrections, or to 
rule a disaffected people, but where no such principles exist, the ex- 
ertions of such powers will create them ". The councilors in their 
turn declared that the assertions of the assembly were " illiberal, 
groundless ", and could not be supported. All parties besieged the 
unfortunate secretary of state with charges and countercharges, and 
in due time came a message from the king that he was displeased with 
" the dissensions of the Provincial Governments over trivial mat- 
ters ".- 

During these early years of the war, Halifax feared attack. 
There were rumors of expeditions against it that were disquieting,^ 
for the place was quite wnthout proper defenses, and to make them 
was a matter of difficulty. Men did not readily volunteer, and the 
measures adopted to fill the ranks were not successful.* There was 
moreover opposition to the taxes imposed for the support of the 
troops. The people were poor, and here, as in the other colonies, 
taxes were an unwelcome reminder of authority. A petition from 
Cumberland county shows that considerable democratic spirit was 
latent there '!" 

We must beg leave to say that it appears to ocular demonstration 
that those who voted for the said Bills were utterly unacquainted with 
the state of the Province. The law being intended for the safety of the 
inhabitants . . . they should have been consulted thereon. . . . The 
dispute arising between Great Britain and the colonies has no way reached 
this quarter, nor can we find any grounds of complaint, wherein any 
acts of violence have been committed or hostilities commenced in any 
part of this province, except the destroying the fort at St John's River, 
which appeared rather an act of inconsideration than otherwise, nor are 
we anyways apprehensive of any danger from them, except this Militia 
Bill is enforced. Those of us who belong to New England, being 
invited into the Province by Governor Lawrence's proclamation, it must 
be the greatest piece of cruelty and imposition for them to be subjected 
to march into different parts in arms against their friends and relations. 

1 See Council Book, IV^ MS. Volume 212, 256-259. 

2 Suffolk to Legge, October 16, 1775 ; Repoi-t on Canadian Archives, iSg^, 339. 
3 Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 253, 272, 273, 280. 

* Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 287, 296, 301. See also "Transcripts 
relating to the American Revolution from the Massachusetts Public Records' ' , MS. 
Volume 364, paper 6. 

5 MS. Volume 364, paper 8. 

AM. HIST. REV., VOL. X. — 5. 



Nova Scotia During the Revolution 66 

. . . The impossibility of supporting troops in our present exigencies 
must be obvious to every judicious and impartial eye that beholds us. 
No medium of trade — not ^ 150 cash circulating among us and that at 
the command of a few persons, no way to pay our debts, but in the way 
of barter, no commerce carried on with other parts, must consequently 
render it most calamitous and wretched, nay, it is a matter not to be 
doubted that the inhabitants cannot do it. [In conclusion they requested 
the governor] . . . to suspend putting the said Militia and tax Bill into 
execution, till a further deliberation . . . and to dissolve the present 
house of Assembly and issue precepts for a new choice. 

Meanwhile there were other indications that the New England 
settlers in the province were far from being satisfied and that an 
effort to gather the militia might precipitate a conflict.^ It is difficult 
to say how much reliance is to be placed on the testimony to this 
effect, but it seems to have determined the governor not to summon 
the militia, 2 and he was evidently unwilling to attempt disarming 
the disaffected. The attempt could not however have precipitated 
a very bloody struggle, since the disaffected were without ammuni- 
tion^ and the loyalists almost as destitute. ^But besides those sus- 
pected of downright disloyalty, there were some who were half- 
hearted in their support of the governor's authority, and desired to 
" remain neuter " in case of an attack on the province, which, 
throughout the winter of 1775^ seemed a very real danger. 

In the meantime the royal army had been forced to evacuate Bos- 
ton, and had arrived at Halifax. This was of course a heavy blow to 
the king's cause, but the coming of the troops, and of the large 
number of loyalists who accompanied them, increased the strength of 
Nova Scotia relatively to that of the disaffected colonies. This, how- 
ever, was not the beginning of the influx of refugees. During the 
previous year many loyalists had removed to Nova Scotia, and their 
coming had been encouraged, as has already been mentioned, by 
grants of land, and, in some cases, of provisions. The authorities 
appear to have been actuated by something like a settled policy of 
making Nova Scotia a center and stronghold of loyalty. Upon re- 
ceiving Dartmouth's despatch respecting the treatment of refugees, 
Legge issued a proclamation to those likely to seek an asylum in 
Nova Scotia. This he endeavored to "spread on the Continent",^ 

' Captain Stanton to Legge, December 4, 1775 ; Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 
341. 

2 Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 302; Legge to Dartmouth, January 11, 
1776, Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 345. 

3 Legge to Dartmouth, December 22, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 86; Report on 
Canadiatt Archives, i8g4, 342. 

*See Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 300. 

^ Legge to Dartmouth, October 17, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 78. See Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 339. 



6/ E. P. Weaver 

thor.gh, owing to the scarcity of provisions, he found great difficulty 
in supplying the promised rations. He entreated^ that flour and 
pork and butter should be sent from the British Isles. In the mean- 
time he proposed to make the loyalists an allowance in cash, so that 
they might supply themselves as best they could at the markets, 
where, however, the price of all food was doubled. In the spring 
of 1776, Legge reported" that the rebels were trying to prevent the 
loyalists from leaving New England for Nova Scotia, but stated in 
the same letter that he had been informed by Howe that two hun- 
dred families, many of them poor, would soon arrive at Halifax. In 
less than a month there came fifty transports^ crowded with people 
from Boston who had remained faithful to their old allegiance. 
Their coming strained to the utmost the resources of the little town, 
though the governor and council did their utmost to prevent dis- 
tress, issuing numerous regulations and proclamations.^ They fixed 
the price of fresh meat at one shilling per pound (Halifax cur^ 
rency), of butter at one shirHing six pence per pound, and of milk at 
six pence per quart. They also decreed that no one nuist charge 
more than double the ordinary rent for rooms or houses, and de- 
clared that the laws against regrating and forestalling would be 
strictly enforced. But, in spite of all regulations, the price of beef 
speedily rose'' to two shillings and six pence per pound and that of 
butter to five shillings per pound, while people had to cook in the 
streets in cabooses from the ships. When Howe sailed with his 
army from Halifax on June 10, a vast number of women and chil- 
dren were left behind, to be provided for as cheaply as possible by 
General Massey, then in command of the garrison. With this object 
he hired a schooner, which he named the Charity, to supply the 
refugees and the invalids with fish. Before winter a number of the 
refugees, " frightened at the cold and the high price of provisions 'V 
left Halifax, but many remained in the province. As we have seen, 
Legge had been impressed by the difficulties of his administration and 
had written constantly of disafifection and danger, which, no doubt, 
his own lack of judgment tended to increase. For his fears there 

' Legge to Dartmouth, November 27, 1775, MS. Volume 44, no. 82. See Report 
on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 341. 

^ Legge to Dartmouth, March 18, 1776, MS. V'okime 45, no. 9. See Report on 
Canadian Archives, iSg4, 348. 

3 Legge to Germain, April 10, 1776, MS. Volume 45, no. 10. See Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 349- 

* Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 315. 

5 See Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, 1 (1S7S), 53, 54. 

6 Massey to Germain, June 27, 1776, MS. Volume 365, no. 13. See Report on Cana- 
dian Archives, iSg4, 351. See also Massey to Germain, October 6, 1776. Ibid., 354. 



Nova Scotia Diiring the Revolution 68 

appear to have been some reasons ; for, though his successor, 
Lieutenant-governor Arbuthnot, announced that all were " in perfect 
good humour '" in the colony, ^ he also described the New-Englanders 
and Acadians as " bitter bad subjects ". On the other hand, early 
in 1776 as many as five hundred men, including some from the 
free-spoken people of Cumberland county,-' were enrolled in the 
militia, and the assembly that met in June voted a loyal address con- 
secrating their lives and fortunes to the service of the king. 

Of the threatened attacks upon Nova Scotia little need be said. 
Massachusetts was interested in attempts at invasion, but they were 
altogether unsuccessful. Throughout the war the authorities at 
Halifax were suspicious of the intentions of the New-Englanders on 
their borders, the more so, as there was difficulty in obtaining infor- 
mation of their movements. In the summer of 1779 a counter attack 
was made. K\\ expedition swooped down from Halifax on Penob- 
scot and took possession of the peninsula where Castine now is."' 
An effort to recover it was unsuccessful, and that region remained 
in the possession of the British till the end of the war. 

Perhaps the Indians were the chief source of danger to the prov- 
ince, for effort was made by the agents both of New England and 
of Nova Scotia to gain or retain the friendship of the Micmacs and 
the St. John River Indians. 

John Allan of Cumberland county, appointed in 1777 Indian 
agent for Massachusetts/ sought to win the friendship of the red 
men for the cause of the revolting colonies, but he met with little 
success. Governor Francklin succeeded in persuading the St. John 
Indians to give up to him a treaty that they had made with Massa- 
chusetts, in which they had promised to send six hundred men to join 
Washington's army, and he also induced them to swear " on the Holy 
Scriptures " to hold no communication with Machias, to follow their 
hunting and fishing quietly, and to warn the English of designs 
against their garrisons." It was always Francklin's great object to 
keep the Indians quiet, for he feared that, once thoroughly roused, 
they might turn their arms against the English, and an Indian war, 
vigorously carried on. would cause the utmost confusion and dis- 

' Arbuthnot to Germain, undated, MS. Volume .j5, no. 21 ; see also same to same. 
December 31, 1776, MS. Volume 45, no. 32, Report on Cunadian Archives, 1894, 358. 

2 Francklin to Pownall, May 4, 1776, MS. Volume 45, no. 15. See also Report on 
Canadian Archives, i8g4, 348. 

"Hughes to Haldimand, June 20, 1779, Rc/wri on Canadian Archives, iSSS, 567. 

* Hughes to Germain, September 2, 1779, MS. Volume 45, no. 75 ; Re/>ori on Cana- 
dian Archives, i8g4, 383. 

5 Journal of Allan, January 16, 1777, in MS. X'olume 364, paper 96. 

6 Copy of oath taken by Indians September 24, 1778, and [anuarv 19, 1779, Dor- 
chester Papers, Volume I, MS. Volume 368, S3. 



69 E. P. W^eaver 

tress. He was especially apprehensive of this when there were 
rumors that a French fleet was hovering on the coasts, for the attach- 
ment of the Indians to the French was still strong/ 

But if upon the whole the interests of the province were safe on 
land, the little commerce it possessed was far from safe at sea. As 
early as November 30, 1775, it was reported that two New England 
schooners had captured twenty-two ships, and six months later the 
judges of the Supreme Court actually represented that it would be 
unsafe to hold the regular courts" in Cumberland, Annapolis, and 
King's counties because of the danger from " pirates " in the Bay 
of Fundy. The ground of this judicial timidity is not altogether 
clear, and it was eventually decided to hold the courts ; but, though 
the seamen did not so far forget their trade as to attack the ccfurts, 
nothing afloat seemed to be secure. " Rebel pirates ", wrote the 
governor, " have entered our defenceless harbours indiscriminately 
from Cape Sable to very near this port, landed to the great terror 
of the well-af¥ected people ; cut out several vessels, and done much 
mischief ".^ At a later time it was reported by Hughes, the suc- 
cessor of Arbuthnot, that the " pirates " had stations to the east and 
west of Halifax, knew what ships came to the harbor, and lay on the 
watch for them.'* Naturally the New-Englanders did not have 
everything their own way, for privateers were fitted out in Nova 
Scotia to prey upon such of the commerce of the enemy as might be 
found. ^ 

This kind of warfare provoked much bitter feeling; and other 
causes were at work to diminish the sympathy that at first existed 
between Nova Scotia and New England. Chief among these was a 
kind of natural selection, which at once impelled the warmest advo- 
cates of colonial rights to leave a province where they were in the 
minority, and inclined the loyalists to seek a refuge where their polit- 
ical principles were still held in respect. When at last Great Britain 
gave up the contest, it was to Nova Scotia that thousands of the van- 
Cjuished party turned in the hope of building up a new country under 
the flag and traditions of their forefathers. General Sir Guy 
Carleton was besieged with memorials and petitions from the loyalists, 
to which he seems ^ to have attended with patience and kindness. 

' Francklin to Clinton, August 2, 1779, Dorchester Papers, Volume I, MS. Volume 
368, 84-89. 

2 Council Book, IV, MS. Volume 212, 318. 

3 Arbuthnot to Germain, October 8, 1776, MS. Volume 45; Report on Canadian 
Archives, i8g4, 354- 

* Hughes to Germain, ibid., undated, MS. Volume 45, 70. 
^See Council Book, IV, October 14, 1779, MS. Volume 212, 372. 
6 See numerous letters and memorials in Dorchester Military Papers, II, MS. 
Volume 369. 



JVova Scotia During the Revolution 70 

Most of the refugees that went to Nova Scotia had collected at 
New York under the protection of the British army, but they came 
originally from all the different colonies. They were of all classes, 
from lawyers, clergymen, and merchants down to slaves. Usually 
a number of families and single men grouped themselves together 
in one party, and made application for lands, etc., through one or two 
men, acting as agents for the rest. In most cases the refugees were 
conveyed to Nova Scotia and were supplied with rations, tools, and 
other necessaries at the expense of the British government.^ In 
spite of this assistance, they suffered many and severe privations. 
At the close of the war, different parts of Nova Scotia and Canada 
saw a repetition of the scenes which had occurred at Halifax on the 
arrival of Howe's army. For instance, it is recorded^ that in 
October, 1782, nine transports, escorted by two men-of-war, arrived 
at Annapolis with five hundred refugees. Others soon followed. 
Several hundred were stowed in the church, a building only sixty by 
forty feet, and the rent of small unfurnished rooms went up to three 
dollars per week. A little later there arrived at Halifax five hundred 
loyalists from Charleston, South Carolina, who, being ill-provided 
with both clothing and shelter, suffered pitiably from the cold.'^ 
Such instances might be multiplied indefinitely. By the summer of 
1784, it was estimated* that 30,000 loyalists had settled in Nova 
Scotia. Their settlement was not effected without a good deal of fric- 
tion and dissatisfaction,^ but the letters of those in authority give the 
impression of an earnest desire to assist all who had suffered on ac- 
count of their adherence to the royal cause, and by the end of 1784, 
Governor Parr was happily able to reporf* that the refugees were 
contented and getting on well. 

Efforts had been made, both in Nova Scotia and in Canada, to 
settle them along the international boundary, so as to strengthen 
the British hold on the countrv in the event of diificultv with the 



'North to the Governor of Nova Scotia, May 5, 17S3, Dorchester Papers, II, MS. 
Volume 369, paper 181. 

2 See Halifax Herald, May 8, 1897, for an article quoting the "Journal of Jacob 
Bailey ", which is now in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. See also 
Parr to Townshend, October 26, 1782, MS. Volume 45, no. 116; Keport on Canadian 
Archives, i8g4, 401. 

^ Same to same, December 7, 1782, MS. Volume 45, no. 119. See also Parr to 
Nepean, January 22, 1782, Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 402. 

< Parr to Sydney, August 13, 1784, MS. Volume 47, no. 27; Report on Canadian 
Archives, i8g4, 423. 

5 Parr to Sydney, April 10, 1784, MS. Volume 47, no. 23 ; also letters quoted in 
Report on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 417-419. 

5 Parr to Sydney, December 27, 1784, and Parr to Nepean, Jauuary 2, 1785, Report 
on Canadian Archives, i8g4, 430. 



71 E. P. Weaver 

new republic — a contingency which by the War of 1812 was unfor- 
tunately proved to merit consideration. But, apart from questions 
of defense, the importance to the British provinces of the settlement 
of the loyalists can hardly be overestimated. In fact, it may be 
doubted whether the present Dominion of Canada does not owe its 
very existence to these refugees. The necessity for keeping faith 
with those Americans who had fought and suffered for the royal 
cause probably prevented the British ministers from throwing away, 
at the close of the war, the despised remnants of England's dominion 
in America, till that time so extensive. Moreover, had they retained 
the French colony of Canada, then hardly resigned to British rule, 
and the one British colony of Nova Scotia, with its meager popula- 
tion of 14,000 souls, these provinces, without the loyalists, would 
not long have been able to resist absorption by the young nation to 
the south. But the coming of the refugees trebled the population 
of British descent, and the loyalists carried to their new homes senti- 
ments and traditions of passionate attachment to monarchical institu- 
tions and to the British connection, which have borne fruit in the 
deep-rooted though less demonstrative loyalty of the modern 
Canadian. 

Emily P. Weaver. 

1 See Morse's return, quoted in Report on Canadian Archives, iSg4, 412. 



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